MGIMO Participates in All-Russian «Stop HIV/AIDS» Forum

May 15th to 21st, in the framework of the All-Russian campaign «Stop HIV/AIDS» a series of events, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the disease, were organized by the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives and the Federal Ministries. The central event of the campaign was a large-scale student forum, which took place at the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. The event was attended by MGIMO Rector, Anatoly Torkunov.

The occasion, which gathered students from all over the country, had for main purpose to raise awareness about AIDS as one of the most dangerous diseases in the contemporary world. The event was held once before, last year, at MGIMO University.

This year, the Forum counted a number of guests of honor, including Svetlana Medvedeva, President of the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives, Veronika Skvortsova, Russian Minister of Healthcare; Anna Popova, Head of Rospotrebnadzor, Pavel Zenkovich Deputy Minister of Education and Science; and UNAIDS Regional Director Vinay Saldanha.

In her speech, Svetlana Medvedeva noted that a large-scale initiative is underway to inform the population about the current threat of HIV/AIDS. The number of participants in the program is increasing and more Russians than ever before are being tested for the disease.

MGIMO students and faculty members actively participated in the event, singing jointly with MGU students the song «We are together» and engaging in the activity «Everything you need to know about HIV».